How Failure of a 'Dreamer' Deal May Tip Control of Congress

[DonViejo]

April 2, 2018, 4:00 AM EDT Updated on April 2, 2018, 8:00 AM EDT

The failure of President Donald Trump and Democratic lawmakers to strike a deal on young undocumented immigrants puts the divisive issue into the middle of some hotly contested campaigns for November’s midterm elections -- ones which could tip control of Congress.

A relatively small number of people are affected personally by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that Trump wants to end -- about 1.8 million immigrants, known as Dreamers, who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, according to administration estimates. And they can’t vote. But the group has emerged as a symbolic stand-in for the debate over illegal immigration that’s been at a stalemate in Washington for more than a decade.

A sizable majority of Americans, especially Democrats and independents, support giving legal status to Dreamers, opinion polls have shown. The topic resonates especially in California, Arizona, Texas, Florida and Nevada -- states with large Hispanic populations where Democrats are seeking to chip away at the Republican majorities in the House and Senate.

“We’re discussing it in our race every single day,” said Jacky Rosen, a U.S. representative who’s the likely Democratic nominee to face Republican incumbent Senator Dean Heller in Nevada. “Dean Heller is doing whatever the president wants -- he’s opposing the Dream Act and he voted against two bipartisan DACA deals.”

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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-02/how-the-failure-of-a-dreamer-deal-may-tip-control-of-congress